


Glimmer

by opal_libra



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, F/F, Injury, Post-Time Skip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-18 03:02:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21670759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/opal_libra/pseuds/opal_libra
Summary: Desperate to save her teacher's life in the middle of a battle, Edelgard accepts help from an unlikely source.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 1
Kudos: 136





	Glimmer

Edelgard’s trembling hands are soaked in blood, but she doesn’t care. There’s only one thing that matters right now - she’s got to wake her teacher up, or they may never have a chance to speak again.

“Can you hear me?” Edelgard shouts as she keeps applying pressure. Still the woman in her arms remains unresponsive. She grits her teeth and calls out for a healer. They’ve made it too far to give up now, they have a future to carve out together. There’s no way she’s going to lose one more person dear to her.

Footsteps approach and Edelgard’s hand is halfway to her axe by the time Mercedes shows up with her hands raised in surrender.

“Get away,” Edelgard spits. “You won’t hurt her.”

“I know we’re on opposite sides in this war,” Mercedes says, her eyes showing equal parts fear and determination, “but we’re away from our allies right now. Please let me help her - she was my teacher too, and I can’t stand the thought of her dying like this.”

A beat passes. Hubert doesn’t show; Linhart is probably too far away to hear them.

“Edelgard, please.”

“You may approach.” Edelgard knows it could easily cost her her life, but she’s prepared to take that risk if it provides even the smallest sliver of hope for her professor. “But if you give me  _ any _ indication that you’re here to hurt her, I swear you will regret it.”

Before she’s even finished her threat, Mercedes is already on her knees beside the two of them. She winces as she looks the professor up and down. When she holds her hands over the body, they start to glow; the familiar sigil that Edelgard has seen a hundred times appears and the gentle light that comes with white magic starts to envelop the professor’s body. Edelgard doesn’t relax her shoulders, doesn’t take her eyes off Mercedes. It’s true that the girl had never been violent, or in any way inclined to hurt others. That doesn’t change the fact that this is the perfect opportunity to strike.

Mercedes catches Edelgard off guard by closing her eyes in concentration. If she wanted to, she could draw a hidden dagger and kill one of the Kingdom’s best healers right now - but she doesn’t even try. If Mercedes is willing to put everything aside to help, and if the rest of the army is too far away to even hear her cries for help… Well, she is willing to let this one slide.

_ Is she going to make it?  _ Edelgard wants to ask. She bites down the words and waits, waits, forcing herself only to think of the present moment. There’s no use worrying about what-ifs, or -

The professor stirs.

Edelgard’s focus is redirected sharply to the woman in her arms, and she looks down to see a slight frown appear on her face. She’s alive. That glimmer of hope Edelgard needed so desperately has arrived, and so, by the sound of it, has the Imperial army.

“Go now, and I won’t pursue you,” she tells Mercedes.

“But she’s-” Mercedes tries to protest, but Edelgard shakes her head.

“She’s alive. My healers will take it from here. Go, and escape with your life.”

This time, Mercedes nods. The glow from her hands vanishes and she gets to her feet. After taking a second to get her bearings, she turns and begins to stride away from their spot in the woods. Just as she’s almost out of sight, Edelgard is seized by an impulse.

“Mercedes?” She turns her head. “Thank you.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was another of my little warm-up fics - they often turn into Edeleth purely incidentally. Feel free to leave comments!


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